This week, we will not be writing about flavor, aroma, labels, bottles, wineries and all the other stuff that we usually talk about. This week, we will look at the upcoming 2012 vintage.
In an election year, things usually go topsy-turvy during the insane season; this year is no different, even with wine.
While the Midwest baked under unrelenting heat of more than 100 degrees for weeks at a time, and the Southeastern part of the country was drenched in unrelenting rain, the gods of the grape smiled on the major growing districts of the country.
In California, Oregon and Washington, the weather in the grape-growing regions was prime. Everything that the weather can do to ensure an exceptional grape crop was in place. Growers were not rushed to prematurely pick grapes because of impending bad weather conditions, but rather they were able to allow the grapes to linger on the vine and slowly develop to their fullest potential. Not only were the grapes nearly perfect, they were also prolific.
So what does this mean to you? It means that there will be a lot of very good Northwestern wines in the marketplace at all price levels; even the less expensive wines will be better than average. As far as price goes, we do not believe that there will be any significant increases, because of the quantity that will be available. There also probably will be no decrease in price, as the exceptional vintage will allow the winemakers to recoup some of the losses incurred during the past few years.
The story doesn't end there. The Lake Erie growing districts in Ohio, Pennsylvania and upstate New York fared exceptionally well, weather-wise. In those areas, it is the concord grape that reigns supreme. It is the main grape variety used to make the sweet red wines.
Unfortunately, the variety does not lend itself well to dry wines, because, like most Northeastern grapes, these have a strange under-flavor called foxy that most wine drinkers dislike. It was the reason that early colonists - Thomas Jefferson among them - continuously experimented with grape-growing techniques. The reason that they could not grow the classical grapes was later found to be Pierce's disease, to which the indigenous vines were immune but the classical vines weren’t.
And now for the bad news - the Midwest. The new and up-and-coming vineyards and wineries in the Midwestern states were hammered by both incredibly high heat and severe drought.
In the state of Missouri, which ranks 10th nationwide based on the number of wineries and vineyards, the growers were forced to pick their grapes early. Despite doing all of the right things to protect their vines, the heat at the beginning of the growing season made the vines flower and set early. Even though growers managed to get some grapes, the excessive heat resulted in grapes that were high in sugar and lower in fruit acid, which leads to rather wimpy wines.
To offset the loss of grapes, the vintners often use concentrated grape must (juice from other wine grapes) to bolster their wines. For a bit of good news from the Midwest, their fruit wines should be superb in 2012, due to the increased sugar from the heat.
Even though the wine from the 2012 vintage is just now being made, it is the opinion of grape experts that this should be not only an outstanding vintage, but a memorable one.
When they are released, we will do our job and keep you informed of what is good in the marketplace. Our suggestion is that if you find a wine that you really like from the 2012 vintage, stock up. As time goes by, these wines will probably rise in price.
Nixa resident Bennet Bodenstein is a wine columnist and helps manage ArticlesOnWine.com with his wife, Sheila. He can be reached at frojhe@suddenlink.net.[[In-content Ad]]
